Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC),
is a country[27] in East Asia.[n] The main island
of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, lies between the
East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific
Ocean, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to
the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the
Philippines to the south. It has an area of 35,808
square kilometres (13,826 square miles), with mountain
ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains
in the western third, where its highly urbanized population
is concentrated. The combined territories under ROC control
consist of 168 islands[o] in total covering 36,193 square
kilometres (13,974 square miles).[17][39] The largest metropolitan
area is formed by Taipei (the capital), New Taipei City, and Keelung.
With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely
populated countries.
Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors of
Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island around 6,000 years ago.
In the 17th century, large-scale Han Chinese immigration began under a
Dutch colony and continued under the Kingdom of Tungning, the first
predominantly Han Chinese state in Taiwanese history. The island
was annexed in 1683 by the Qing dynasty of China and ceded to the
Empire of Japan in 1895. The Republic of China, which had overthrown
the Qing in 1912, took control following the surrender of Japan in 1945.
Japan renounced sovereignty over Taiwan in 1952. The immediate resumption
of the Chinese Civil War resulted in the loss of the Chinese mainland to
Communist forces, who established the People’s Republic of China, and the
flight of the ROC central government to Taiwan in 1949. The effective
jurisdiction of the ROC has since been limited to Taiwan, Penghu,
and smaller islands.
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